Hi all, I got a lot out of the CC community as a HS senior, and I’d love to give back and answer any questions you have about Scripps or the general vibe at the 5C’s. I’m not affiliated with the admissions office and can’t really speak to the admissions process as a whole, but feel free to ask me any questions about campus vibe, people, classes, profs, party scene, etc.
Scripps is one of my daughter’s top choices. She did an overnight this fall and attended a few classes and LOVED it. What do you like best about Scripps so far? What would you change if you could? And in the end, which colleges were you choosing between and why did you choose Scripps? Thanks!
Hi smcirish!
In the end I was deciding between Cal, UCLA, Tufts, and Scripps. Scripps was not my first choice originally, but after visiting elsewhere it became obvious it was the right choice for me.
- It feels small, in the best way possible. It is the best learning environment I could ask for. For example, my Italian 101 section has 6 people; we're a tight knit group and the virtually one-on-one attention we get is incredible. This is true of almost all my classes.
- When my friends visit from other large state schools, they're always impressed by the vibe here. People are very relaxed, and at any point during the day you could find people hanging out at the Motley, profs hosting class outside, students picnicking on the grass, etc. However, for the most part there's not a lot of hustle and bustle, and it can get quite quiet, especially on the weekends.
- The relationships between the 5C's is awesome, but hard to explain. Each campus has its own vibe, people, and campus style, so eating meals, taking classes, and going to events at the other schools keeps it interesting and keeps Scripps from feeling too small.
In all seriousness, if I could, I would change LA. It’s harder to get into the city than I thought. To get around L.A. or go to events off campus, it either a) takes time or b) is expensive. Since Scripps + Claremont are still so new to me, I don’t mind spending most of my time in the area, but a lot of sophomores that I’ve met mention one of their goals is to make an effort to get off campus more often.
Thank you! That’s a huge help! You got into some very competitive schools–congrats! That is impressive. Do you know many students who got merit scholarships from Scripps?
@smcirish - you can look at the CDS to see stats on scholarships. Look at section H2A
Could you tell me how rooming works for first year students? Do people find roommates before they go into the year or are they randomly assigned or is it an option? What do students do for rooming first year?
@collegeconfi10 First-years are generally places in triples with two other roommates who are assigned based on a survey students take over the summer about their interests and living habits. You can request to room with someone specific as a first-year but not very many people do that.
@AnneKatherine Do they ask you if you’d rather have a double or triple? Or are most people just put in a triple by default? My D hasn’t shared a room before and she does WANT a roommate, but I’m guessing she’d be better off wiht one than 2 to start out.
@AnneKatherine One more question–since the new dorm opened, has it made things less crowded (less “forced” triples?)? Thanks!
When my D started she wasn’t given any choice and was put into a triple. But that was before the new hall opened and they were the largest first year class they had (and more than they were expecting). I would assume that since the new hall has opened it would be better, but I don’t know.
We have no experience with women-only schools/colleges. DD2 is not a girly-girl and doesn’t have a large social group in HS. Will she be able to find her “tribe” at Scripps? What do we need to know about the all-female culture at Scripps?
@smcirish You don’t get to pick whether you’ll be placed into a double or triple. I’m an only child who has never had to share a bedroom long-term before, I was placed into a triple, and my two roommates and I haven’t had any fights or major issues all year. Honestly I think that housing shouldn’t be the deciding factor about where you go to college. Sure, it does contribute to your overall quality of life in some ways but if you are having major roommate issues they will usually place you into a different room with different people midway through the semester and either way, it’ll be a good learning experience. Between going to class, going to my part-time job, getting meals at the dining hall, etc. I end up spending very little time in my room. There are a lot of study and hang out spaces at the 5Cs so it’s easy to just treat your dorm as a place to sleep and store your things. NEW hall has NOT decreased the amount of triples (in my understanding) because they have just started admitting more transfer students/not needing to house Scripps students at one of the other 5Cs.
@smcirish Also, there really is no such thing as “forced” triple. Some rooms are definitely larger/smaller than others. Sometimes singles become doubles, doubles become singles, etc. but the number of people in each room always has to comply with the fire marshal/fire code regulations. What Scripps students may call a “forced” triple may still actually be bigger than a triple at another school but Scripps may have had it as a double at some point just because they had the opportunity to give students even more space.
@PolarMama I was not looking to attend an all-women’s college but still ended up at Scripps and that tends to be the sentiment of many (but not all) Scripps students. There isn’t really a “girly-girl” culture and while some students really enjoy traditionally feminine things (make up, dresses, etc.), there are almost as many that exemplify more traditionally masculine traits (short hair, play contact sports, etc.). I have no way of telling you whether or not your daughter will be able to find her people at Scripps (or one of the other Claremont Colleges as a Scripps student) because that is such an individual thing. I think that when you have a fairly diverse pool of 5,500 18-22-year-olds within one square mile, there should be a “tribe” for everyone. Having said that, finding those people can be a challenge for certain people. If your daughter has a certain hobby and tends to click with people who share that interest, she’ll have a really easy time making friends. (For example, if she joins a sports team, improv, or a capella group and gets along really well with those people). However, sometimes it’s more complicated than that and takes longer for people to find their ideal friend group. I think that’s true of every college/university though. I think the best way to check would be to go to admitted students day and have your daughter talk to as many other current and prospective students as possible. At the same time, it’s important to keep in mind that in those situations you usually end up making small talk or talking about the college so it may not be a 100% accurate representation of what social interaction at Scripps is actually like.